Lundy airs sport TV funding mix

Federal Sports Minister senator Kate Lundy says a potential government-funded sports television network could only be viable if it was run along commercial lines and not reliant on being propped up by the government.

The Australian Sports Commission is undertaking a feasibility study into a channel that would focus on lower profile sports in which Australia has success on the global stage, such as netball, rowing and hockey, but which do not have much coverage on free-to-air networks.

During an appearance at a Sports Without Borders conference in Melbourne on Friday, Senator Lundy told The Australian Financial Review: “I think it’s smart the Sports Commission is looking into this . . . but the channel can’t be a charity.”

Many of the sports that would potentially feature on the channel are those that receive most of the $120 million annual funding the federal government provides elite sport.

ASC chairman John Wylie, the chief executive of investment bank Lazard, has said the $3 million that the sports – including rowing and netball – pay annually in production costs to be broadcast by networks could be used to fund the new channel.

Senator Lundy said there were already many sports that were being innovative in providing online coverage of their sports, including surfing and hockey.

She said a government-funded channel could also provide a boost for women’s sports, which she believes are not covered enough by either free-to-air or pay television networks.

“There is no good reason for it, other than some sort of incomprehensible bias against women’s sport, given we know it rates well.

“The Paralympics, the Olympics, the golf and tennis are all evidence of women’s sports rating well, and yet for some reason people are not prepared to make that investment.